Web slitting apparatus

ABSTRACT

A web of paper drawn from a reel is slit longitudinally by knives to form a plurality of ribbons of equal width. The knives are mounted on position-adjusting means arranged simultaneously to adjust the positions of the knives relative to the centerline of the reel in order to determine the width of the ribbons. The ribbons may be engaged by a first set of turner bars which turn the direction of movement of the ribbons through 90* and by a second set of burner bars which again turns the direction of movement of the ribbons through 90* to superimpose them one over the other. Ribbons may be slit from webs drawn separately from two reels and by the turner bars be superimposed one over the other.

United States Patent [72] Inventors Howard Osborn Aylesbury; Charles Samuel George Trill, Bledlow, both of, England [2| 1 Appl. No. 830,346

[22] Filed June 4, 1969 [45] Patented July 27, 1971 [73] Assignee Wiggins Teape Research 8: Development,

Limited London, England [32] Priority June 7, l 968 Great Britain [54] WEB SLl'l'l'lNG APPARATUS 12 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs. [52] US. Cl 83/158, 83/485, 83/504, 83/506 [51 1 Int. Cl ..B65h 35/02 [50] FieldofSearch 83/158, 156, 107, 162, 505, 506, 504, 499, 498, 485, 483, 428, 516

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 325,812 9/1885 Bridgman 83/505 X 801,036 I 0/ l 905 McCorkindale... 83/499 863,007 8/ l 907 Sturtevant 83/499 1,348,553 8/1920 Dowell 83/107 X 3,103,843 9/1963 Schoenberger, Jr... 83/107 3,332,326 7/1967 Haas 83/504 X 3,376,774 4/1968 Collins et al. 84/499 X Primary Examiner-Frank T. Yost Attorney-[mine and Smiley ABSTRACT: A web of paper drawn from a reel is slit longitudinally by knives to form a plurality of ribbons of equal width. The knives are mounted on position-adjusting means arranged simultaneously to adjust the positions of the knives relative to the centerline of the reel in order to determine the width of the ribbons. The ribbons may be engaged by a first set of turner bars which turn the direction of movement of the ribbons through 90 and by a second set of burner bars which again turns the direction of movement: of the ribbons through- 90 to superimpose them one over the other. Ribbons may be slit from webs drawn separately from two reels and by the turner bars be superimposed one over the other.

PATENTEI] JULZT r911 SHEET 1 BF 5 3. 595,- 1 14 I nventors HOWARD ossuRN CHARLES SyGTRiLL B A tlorneyg PATENTED JUL27 1971 SHEET 2 OF 5 I nvenlors HOWARD 0580RN CHARLES s. s. TR'ILL wq A ltorneys PATE NTED JUL27I97I SHEET 3 OF 5 3, 595; 1 14.

Inventors HOWARD OSBDRN CHARLES s. G.TRiLL y e A tlorneyg PATENTEUJULZYIHH sum u 0F 5 lnben lor; osBoRN HOWARD CHARLES S G. TRiLL v A Ilorneyg Byy-.

WI'JB SLITTING AMARA'IUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION I. Field of the Invention This invention relates to web slitting apparatus, and in particular to apparatus for forming ribbons by the longitudinal slitting of a web, for example a web of paper, drawn from a reel.

2. Description of the Prior Art During the slitting of a paper web into a number of ribbons it has been the usual practice to use circular slitting knives attached to a rotatable spindle at fixed distances along the length of the spindle. When it is required to change the width of the ribbons it has been necessary to stop the machine for some considerable period of time while the positions of the slitter knives are individually and manually adjusted to accommodate the new ribbon widths. It is a main object of the invention to provide a web slitting apparatus which is so constructed as significantly to reduce the time during which the machine is stopped for the purpose of effecting repositioning of the slitter knives preparatory to the production of ribbons of a width different from that being produced during the preceding run of the machine.

SUMMARY According to the invention there is provided apparatus for forming ribbons by the longitudinal slitting of a web or webs, for example a web or webs of paper, drawn from a reel or reels, comprising at least three slitting knives of which one is supported in a transversely fixed position to be movable into and out of engagement with a web along the longitudinal centerline thereof, support means for each of the other knives, said support means being so located as to permit said other knives to be engageable with the web on opposite sides of said centerline at predetermined positions between the centerline and the longitudinal edges of the web, and knife position-adjusting means cooperating with said support means and operable to effect simultaneous movements of proportional extent to said support means in directions at right angles to the centerline to permit variation of the width of ribbons slit from the web.

In one embodiment of the apparatus a pair of knives and support means therefor are located between each longitudinal edge of the web and the longitudinal centerline of the web, one pair comprising first and second knives and the other comprising third and fourth knives, and the adjusting means for the knives of each pair are arranged to effect proportional adjustment of the pair relative to said centerline to ensure the forming of three ribbons of equai width. The knives ofthe said pairs may be pivoted to the support means therefor to permit selective engagement of each knife with the web.

The adjusting means on the opposite sides of the longitudinal centerline may comprise screws of opposite hand and the support means for each knife includes a nut cooperating with the screw appropriate thereto. The screws may be coaxial and be carried by a rotatable spindle common thereto and arranged to effect simultaneous rotation of the screws.

In some machines the slitting apparatus cooperates with turner bars arranged to change the direction of movement of ribbons leaving the slitting apparatus and the invention also includes first stage turner bars located in the paths of the ribbons issuing from the web slitting position and arranged to change the direction of longitudinal movement of the ribbons, mounting means for each turner bar, turner bar-adjusting means, and coupling means effecting cooperation between said knife position-adjusting means and turner banadjusting means to correlate the location of the turner bars with adjusted positions of said other knives. The turner bar-adjusting means may comprise screws of opposite hand coaxial with and carried by a rotatable spindle common thereto, each turner bar mounting means may include a nut cooperating with the screws appropriate thereto, and the coupling means include a change speed gearbox driving the knife position-adjusting means, and a source of motive power driving the turner baradjusting means and through a clutch driving the gearbox.

Second stage turner bars may be located in the paths of the ribbons moving away from the first stage turner bars and arranged to superimpose the ribbons one over the other.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. l is a perspective view diagrammatically illustrating apparatus according to the invention,

FIG. 2 illustrates a detail ofFIG. ll,

FIGS. 3 and 4 diagrammatically illustrate the mode of operation of the apparatus of FIGS. I and 2,

FIG. 5 diagrammatically illustrates the mode of operation of a modified form of the apparatus, and

FIG. 6 diagrammatically illustrates the mode of operation of a further modified form of the apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawings, a web I of paper, FIG. 3, is drawn from a reel 2 and is slit by at least three circular slitting knives, five knives 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 being shown in FIG. 3 to form three ribbons 8, 9, 10 of equal widths, and to trim off the marginal edge portions 11,12. The central knife 3 is supported in a transversely fixed position to engage the web along the iongitudinal centerline 13 thereof, and is carried by pivoted support means for selective engagement with the web. For each of the other knives there is provided support means, indicated generically in FIG. 1 by the references l4, l5, 16, 17, so located as to permit the knives 4,5 and 6,7 to engage the web on opposite sides of the centerline 13 at predetermined positions between the centerline 13 and the longitudinal edges of the web. Knife position-adjusting means, described. below, cooperate with the support means and are operable to effect simultaneous movements of equal extent to the support means in directions at right angles to the centerline 13 to permit variation of the width of ribbons slit from the web,

As shown in FIGS. I, 3 and 4 a pair of knives and support means therefor are located between each longitudinal edge of the web and the longitudinal centerline 113, one pair comprising first and second knives L5 and the other pair comprising third and fourth knives 6,7, and the adjusting means for the knives of each pair are arranged to effect proportional adjustment of the pair'relative to the centerline 13, as described below, to ensure the forming of three ribbons 8, 9, 10 of equal width. The knives all cooperate with slitting drum 18, FIG. 2, when they are performing a slitting operation, and each knife is carried by an arm 19 pivoted at 20, FIG. 2, to the support means therefor to permit selective engagement of each knif with the web. Movement of the knife to and from the slitting position thereof is effected by any suitable means but as illustrated in FIG. 2 such movements are effected by a pneumatic cylinder 21 the piston rod 22 of which is connected at 23 to the arm I9.

The knife position-adjusting means on the opposite sides of the longitudinal centerline 13 comprise screws 24,25 and 26,27 of opposite hand, screws 24,25 being right-hand screws and screws 26,27 being left-hand screws, and the support means for each knife 4, 5, s, 7 includes a nut 28, FIG. 2, cooperating with the screw appropriate thereto. A location bar 29 prevents rotation of the nuts about the screws associated therewith. As shown in FIG. ll, the screws 2 25, 26, 27 are coaxial and are carried by a rotatable spindle 30 com mon thereto and arranged to effect simultaneous rotation of the screws. Rotation of the spindle 3b may be effected in any desired manner, one such manner being described below.

The mode of operation of the apparatus embodying five knives is described with reference to FIG. 4 and with reference to symbols the significance of which is as follows:

X== the width of a ribbon $53M X /2 one-half the width of the ribbon 8 kl the distance moved by knife 5-0:! 7 during adjustment of the location thereof,

k2 the distance moved by knife 4 or 6 during adjustment of the location thereof.

In the upper portion of FIG. 4 the knife 3 is dispensed with and it is assumed that the knives 4 and 5 are spaced respectively at distances X/2, 3x/2 from the centerline l3, and knives 6,7 are spaced respectively at distances x/2 and 3x/2 from the centerline. If now it is desired to change the width of the ribbons by a factor l/y the knife settings to maintain equal width ribbons is as shown by the lower portion of FIG. 4. Because the arrangement is symmetrical about the centerline 13 it is necessary to consider one side only of the system.

Thus in changing from a ribbon width x to a width x/y since knife 5 is traversed a distance equal to three times the distance traversed by knife 4 and the screws 25, 24 have a pitch 3!, P to ensure this movement.

FIG. 5 illustrates a modified form of the apparatus in which only two ribbons are formed by slitting of the web 1. In this embodiment the knife 3 is fixed and only knives 5 and 7 cooperate therewith and the knives 5,7 are located at a distance of 3x/2 from the centerline 13 as shown on the upper portion of FIG. 5. If now it is required to change the width of the ribbons by a factor l/y, the knife settings become as shown in the lower portion of FIG. 5. In this instance the distance moved by each knife 5,7 is k3 where As mentioned above, the apparatus sometimes cooperates with turner bars arranged to change the direction of movement of ribbons leaving the slitting apparatus. As shown in FIGS. 1, 3 4 and 5 there are provided first stage turner bars 31, 32, 33 of which the bar 3i is fixed and the bars 32, 33 are respectively supported by mounting means 34, 35, FIG. 1, comprising nuts which cooperate with turner bar-adjusting means shown as screws 36,37 of opposite hand, appropriate thereto. Coupling means effect cooperation between the knife position-adjusting means and the turner bar-adjusting means. The screws 36,37 are coaxial and are carried by a rotatable spindle 38 common thereto and the coupling means includes a change speed gearbox 3?, Fit]. i, which through a chain 40 drives the knife position-adjusting means 30, 24, 25, 26, 27, and a source of motive power, shown as a motor 41, which drives the spindle 38 and also, through a clutch 42'and chain 43 drives the gearbox F8.

The first stage turner bars 3E, 32, 33 turn the ribbons through 90 and direct them to second stage turner bars 44, FIG. 3, only one of which is illustrated, arranged one over the other again to turn the ribbons through 90 and to superimpose the ribbons one over the other.

It will be understood that when the positions of the knives 4, 5, 6, 7 are adjusted the runner bars 32,33 must be similarly adjusted and this is effecwd by the turner bar-adjusting means simultaneously with the adjustment of the position of the knives. Having regard to the form of the apparatus shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in order to correctly align the ribbons on to the turner bars it is necessary to position the bars 32, 33 on the centerlines of the ribbons to be engaged thereby, that is a distance of x from the centerline 13. As stated above, when changing from a ribbon of width x to a ribbon width x/ y knife 5 moves a distance kl and knife 4 a distance of k2 where kl :k2 =3:l

The ratio of movement of knives 5 and 7 to the turner bars 32,33 is kl :Tl=3:2, where Ti is the distance moved by bars 32 and 33, this being arrived at by the formula formula Should it be desired only to trim the edges of the web 1 the knives 4,6 only are used and the ribbon is led over the fixed turner bar 31. In this case no adjustment is required between the knives 4,6 and the turner bar 31.

The width of the web I can be determined by sensing the position of the screws and, if desired, the apparatus can be controlled automatically by the use of a punched card, by a magnetic tape, or by any other suitable control system. Further, the coaxial screws 24, 25, 26, 27 and 36, 37, which respectively are formed on spindles appropriate thereto, can be arranged as individual screwed interconnected bars, one for each knife or turner bar as appropriate.

If desired, the lead screws for the knives may each be of the same pitch but of the appropriate hand with a positive gear connection between the screws of such a ratio as to provide the required knife displacements, the screws for the turner bars being similarly arranged. Such a construction will reduce practical difficulties associated with multiple concentric screws of varying pitch and permit the simultaneous slitting of a number of webs in excess of three.

FIG. 6 diagrammatically illustrates a modified form of the apparatus designed to provide from two reels either five or six ribbons of equal width and to superimpose them one on another. In this form of the apparatus the webs to be slit are fed from two reels 2,2a and the arrangement of mechanism of FIG. 3 is duplicated, that at the left-hand side of FIG. 6 being as described with reference to FIG. 3 and that at the righthand side of FIG. 6 being a mirror image of the left-hand side and bearing the same reference numerals as the left-hand side but suffixed by the letter a.

When using the apparatus of FIG. 6 to provide six ribbons the second stage turners 44,44a, which are at right angles one to the other, comprise two sets each of three bars 44 and three bars 44a and the two sets are superimposed one over the other. The operation of the leftand right-hand sets of apparatus is as described above with reference to FIG. 3, the knives 4a, 5a, 6a and 7a being carried by a continuation of the shaft 30, or coupled to the shaft 30, to be adjustable simultaneously with the knives 4,5,6 and 7.

If five ribbons are to be obtained from two reels one of the reels will be appropriately of lesser width than that of the other, as indicated at 2b, FIG. 6, and will be offset from the centerline I31: as indicated at 13b. Two ribbons of the same width as those produced by knives 4, 5, 6, 7 will then be produced by the use of knives 7a, 6a and 4a and will be turned by the first stage turner bars 31a, 33a and by two second stage turner bars 44a.

In all embodiments it is found to be desirable to run the web over cambered rolls, not shown, disposed just in advance of the slitter knives, the cambered rolls ensuring that the web is kept taut across the width thereof as it is engaged by the knives. The cambered rolls are mounted for axial adjustment to permit the midportion of the rolls to be aligned centrally with respect to the width of the reels and so avoid tracking of the web across the rolls.

The apparatus may also be provided with edge detector devices, indicated at A and B in FIG. 6, on each second stage turner bar 44, 44a to sense the lateral location of each ribbon and ensure that the edges of all of the superimposed ribbons are substantially in longitudinal alignment. To this end the second stage turner bars are individually adjustable to permit adjustment thereof in the event of one of the ribbons being out of alignment with the other and adjustment of the second stage turner bars may be effected manually or automatically by means not shown but known per se.

When the apparatus is not used in connection with turner bars, as described above, it may be used with apparatus, not shown, for marking, enumerating, punching, or notching the slit webs.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for forming ribbons by the longitudinal slitting of a web or webs, for example a web or webs of paper, drawn from a reel or reels, comprising at least three slitting knives of which one is supported in a transversely fixed position to be movable into and out of engagement with a web along the longitudinal centerline thereof, and the others of the knives are engageable with the web on opposite sides of the centerline at predetermined positions between the centerline and the longitudinal edges of the web, nuts supporting said others of the knives and cooperating with coaxial screws of opposite hand can'ied by a rotatable spindle common thereto and arranged to efi'eet simultaneous movements of proportional extent to said nuts in directions at right angles to said centerline to permit variation of the width of ribbons slit from the web, first stage turner bars located in the paths of the ribbons issuing from the web slitting position and arranged to change the direction of longitudinal movement of the ribbons, mounting means for each turner bar, turner bar-adjusting means, and coupling means effecting cooperation between said rotatable spindle and the turner bar-adjusting means to correlate the location of the turner bars with adjusted positions of the knives carried by said nuts.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the turner baradjusting means comprises screws of opposite hand coaxial with and carried by a rotatable spindle common thereto, each turner bar mounting means includes a nut cooperating with the screw appropriate thereto, and the coupling means in cludes a change speed gearbox driving the knife position-adjusting means, and a source of motive power driving the turner bar-adjusting means and through a clutch driving the gearbox.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, including second stage turner bars located in the paths of the ribbons moving away from the first stage turner bars and arranged to superimpose the ribbons one over the other.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, in which a web to be slit is drawn from each of two rolls and is slit by knives appropriate thereto, including for the ribbons slit from each web a set of first stage turner bars and a set of second stage turner bars, the second stage turner bars being superimposed one above the other and the sets of first stage tumer bars being arranged to turn the ribbons slit from one web towards the ribbons slit from the other web.

5. Apparatusjaccording to claim 1, including second stage turner bars located in the paths of the ribbons moving away from the first stage turner bars and arranged to superimpose the ribbons one over the other.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, in which a web to be slit is drawn from each of two rolls and is slit by knives appropriate thereto, including for the ribbons slit from each web a set of first stage turner bars and a set of second stage turner bars, the second stage turner bars being superimposed one above the other and the sets of first stage turner bars being arranged to turn the ribbons slit from one web towards the ribbons slit from the other web.

7. Apparatus for forming ribbons by the longitudinal slitting of a web or webs, for example a web or webs of paper, drawn from a reel or reels, comprising two pairs of knives engageable with a web on opposite sides of the longitudinal centerline of the web, each of said knives being supported by a nut and the nuts of the pairs being mounted respectively on coaxial screws of opposite hand carried by a rotatable spindle common thereto and arranged to effect simultaneous movements of proportional extent to the nuts of the pairs in directions at right angles to said centerline to permit variation-of width of ribbons slit from the web, first stage turner bars located in the paths of the ribbons issuing from the web slittin position and arranged to change the direction of longitudma movement of turner bar mounting means includes a nut cooperating with the screw appropriate thereto, and the coupling means includes a change speed gearbox driving the knife position-adjusting means, and a source of motive power driving the turner bar-adjusting means and through a clutch driving the gearbox.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8, including second stage turner bars located in the paths of the ribbons moving away from the first stage turner bars and arranged to superimpose the ribbons one over the other.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9, in which a web to be slit is drawn from each of two rolls and is slit by knives appropriate thereto, including for the ribbons slit from each web a set of first stage turner bars and a set. of second stage turner bars, the second stage turner bars being superimposed one above the other and the sets of first stage turner bars being arranged to turn the ribbons slit from one web towards the ribbons slit from the other web.

11. Apparatus according to claim 7, including second stage turner bars located in the paths of the ribbons moving away from the first stage turner bars and arranged to superimpose the ribbons one over the other.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11, in which a web to be slit is drawn from each of two rolls and is slit by knives appropriate thereto, including for the ribbons slit from each web a set of first stage turner bars and a set of second stage turner bars, the second stage turner bars being superimposed one above the other and the sets of first stage turner bars being arranged to turn the ribbons slit from one web towards the ribbons slit from the other web. 

1. Apparatus for forming ribbons by the longitudinal slitting of a web or webs, for example a web or webs of paper, drawn from a reel or reels, comprising at least three slitting knives of which one is supported in a transversely fixed position to be movable into and out of engagement with a web along the longitudinal centerline thereof, and the others of the knives are engageable with the web on opposite sides of the centerline at predetermined positions between the centerline and the longitudinal edges of the web, nuts supporting said others of the knives and cooperating with coaxial screws of opposite hand carried by a rotatable spindle common thereto and arranged to effect simultaneous movements of proportional extent to said nuts in directions at right angles to said centerline to permit variation of the width of ribbons slit from the web, first stage turner bars located in the paths of the ribbons issuing from the web slitting position and arranged to change the direction of longitudinal movement of the ribbons, mounting means for each turner bar, turner bar-adjusting means, and coupling means effecting cooperation between said rotatable spindle and the turner bar-adjusting means to correlate the location of the turner bars with adjusted positions of the knives carried by said nuts.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the turner bar-adjusting means comprises screws of opposite hand coaxial with and carried by a rotatable spindle common thereto, each turner bar mounting means includes a nut cooperating with the screw appropriate thereto, and the coupling means includes a change speed gearbox driving the knife position-adjusting means, and a source of motive power driving the turner bar-adjusting means and through a clutch driving the gearbox.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 2, including second stage turner bars located in the paths of the ribbons moving away from the first stage turner bars and arranged to superimpose the ribbons one over thE other.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 3, in which a web to be slit is drawn from each of two rolls and is slit by knives appropriate thereto, including for the ribbons slit from each web a set of first stage turner bars and a set of second stage turner bars, the second stage turner bars being superimposed one above the other and the sets of first stage turner bars being arranged to turn the ribbons slit from one web towards the ribbons slit from the other web.
 5. Apparatus according to claim 1, including second stage turner bars located in the paths of the ribbons moving away from the first stage turner bars and arranged to superimpose the ribbons one over the other.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 5, in which a web to be slit is drawn from each of two rolls and is slit by knives appropriate thereto, including for the ribbons slit from each web a set of first stage turner bars and a set of second stage turner bars, the second stage turner bars being superimposed one above the other and the sets of first stage turner bars being arranged to turn the ribbons slit from one web towards the ribbons slit from the other web.
 7. Apparatus for forming ribbons by the longitudinal slitting of a web or webs, for example a web or webs of paper, drawn from a reel or reels, comprising two pairs of knives engageable with a web on opposite sides of the longitudinal centerline of the web, each of said knives being supported by a nut and the nuts of the pairs being mounted respectively on coaxial screws of opposite hand carried by a rotatable spindle common thereto and arranged to effect simultaneous movements of proportional extent to the nuts of the pairs in directions at right angles to said centerline to permit variation of width of ribbons slit from the web, first stage turner bars located in the paths of the ribbons issuing from the web slitting position and arranged to change the direction of longitudinal movement of the ribbons, mounting means for each turner bar, turner bar-adjusting means, and coupling means effecting cooperation between said rotatable spindle and the turner bar-adjusting means to correlate the location of the turner bars with adjusted positions of the knives carried by said nuts.
 8. Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the turner bar-adjusting means comprises screws of opposite hand coaxial with and carried by a rotatable spindle common thereto, each turner bar mounting means includes a nut cooperating with the screw appropriate thereto, and the coupling means includes a change speed gearbox driving the knife position-adjusting means, and a source of motive power driving the turner bar-adjusting means and through a clutch driving the gearbox.
 9. Apparatus according to claim 8, including second stage turner bars located in the paths of the ribbons moving away from the first stage turner bars and arranged to superimpose the ribbons one over the other.
 10. Apparatus according to claim 9, in which a web to be slit is drawn from each of two rolls and is slit by knives appropriate thereto, including for the ribbons slit from each web a set of first stage turner bars and a set of second stage turner bars, the second stage turner bars being superimposed one above the other and the sets of first stage turner bars being arranged to turn the ribbons slit from one web towards the ribbons slit from the other web.
 11. Apparatus according to claim 7, including second stage turner bars located in the paths of the ribbons moving away from the first stage turner bars and arranged to superimpose the ribbons one over the other.
 12. Apparatus according to claim 11, in which a web to be slit is drawn from each of two rolls and is slit by knives appropriate thereto, including for the ribbons slit from each web a set of first stage turner bars and a set of second stage turner bars, the second stage turner bars being superimposed one above the other and the sets of first stage turner bars being arranged to turn the ribbons slit from one web towards the ribbonS slit from the other web. 